Intoduction:  This chronology was assembled to help me clarify in my own mind the timing and sequence of certain events in biblical and church history, and their relationship in time with other historical events occurring in the world. It is synthesized from a number of sources, some of which differ in their assignment of dates to certain events. Inclusion or omission of an event is based on my personal whim and is not to be taken as an indication of my opinion of any objective or subjective significance of a particular event. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
 
 

c. 13,000 BC	End of the Second Ice Age
c. 3500-3200 BC	Beginning of the Bronze Age
c. 1800-1700 BC	Time of the Patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; general migration of people in the Middle East draws the descendants of Jacob into Egypt
c. 1792 BC	Hammurabi in Babylonia, early lawgiver
c. 1560-1250 BC	Silence in the Bible for five centuries, the period between Joseph and Moses
c. 1347-1338 BC	Tutankhamun in Egypt
c. 1301-1234 BC	Ramesses II (“The Great”), some believe to be the Pharoah of Moses' time
c. 1250-1225 BC	Deliverance from Egypt, Exodus through Sinai into a semi-sedentary life near Kadesh; Moses
c. 1200 BC	Beginning of the Iron Age; Hebrew tribes have arrived in Canaan by this date
c. 1200-1025 BC	Installation of Hebrews in Canaan under the Judges; semi-nomadic royalty, no capital, no administration, no professional army
c. 1043 BC	United Kingdom, Samuel anoints Saul
c. 1040-1010 BC	Samuel and Saul
c. 1000 BC	Capture of Jerusalem, establishment of a fixed capital, mercenary army
c. 1000-950 BC	Yahwist (J) tradition written down, southern kingdom
c. 1010-976 BC	Unified monarchy; north (Israel) and south (Judah) united under King David; Nathan the Prophet ("You are the man.")
c. 970-931 BC	Solomon; construction of the First ("Solomon's") Temple, built after the death of David and dedicated by his son (1 Kgs 8:1ff); this Temple was destroyed c. 586 BC by the Babylonians; collection of Yahwist traditions, beginning of wisdom literature; splendor, royal administration, high taxes, signs of decadence
c. 931 BC	Schism between Judah and Israel; divided kingdom, Judah (southern kingdom) under Rehoboam I and Israel (northern kingdom) under King Jeroboam I
c. 922 BC	Elohist (E) tradition written down, northern kingdom
c. 874-853 BC	Ahab and Jezebel
c. 860-840 BC	Elijah, Elisha
c. 786-746 BC	Reign of Jeroboam II; Hosea's prophetic career; Amos' prophetical career
c. 742 BC	Death of King Uzziah
c. 740 BC	Isaiah receives his call to prophecy
c. 735-700 BC	Hosea's prophetical career begins
c. 721 BC	Fall of Samaria, capital of Israel (northern kingdom): captured by Assyrian King Sargon II; captives deported to Ninevah, never to return; these are the "twelve lost tribes"
c. 701 BC	Jerusalem beseiged by Sennacherib
c. 700-650 BC	Deuteronomic (D) tradition written down
c. 690 BC	Micah's prophetical career
c. 687-680 BC	End of Isaiah's prophetical career
c. 650 BC	Jeremiah born
c. 640-609 BC	King Josiah's reign; Zephaniah's prophetical career
c. 629 BC	King Josiah begins his reforms (in Jerusalem?)
c. 628 BC	Zoroaster founds Zoroastrianism in Persia; Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom, dualism of good and evil, people judged by their actions
c. 627-580 BC	Jeremiah’s prophetical career
c. 615 BC	Nahum's prophetical career
c. 612 BC	Babylon conquers Assyria; Ninevah (in Assyria) falls
c. 609 BC	King Josiah killed on the battlefield of Megiddo
c. 605 BC	Babylon defeats Egypt at the Battle of Carchemish. Egypt is destroyed as a power in the Middle East, Babylon is now the dominant power
c. 605-597 BC	Habakkuk's prophetical career
c. 600 BC	JED (Yahwist-Elohist-Deuteronomic) sources probably conflated by this time
c. 593-559 BC	Ezekiel's prophetical career in Babylon
c. 598-587 BC	Jeremiah attempts to counsel Zedekiah in the face of bitter opposition
c. 587 BC	Babylonian Empire conquers and destroys Jerusalem (capital of Judah, southern kingdom), Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar; beginning of the Exile; deportation of King Jehoiachin and the elite of the Jewish population to Babylon with only the "inferior classes" remaining in Palestine; destruction of the First ("Solomon's") Temple ( which had been built c. 950 BC); the Ark of the Covenant is lost; sacrificial worship replaced by prayer meetings (beginning of synagogal worship); Jeremiah's "New Covenant"
c. 586 BC	Priestly (P) tradition written down
c. 585 BC	Ezekiel (?)
c. 563-483 BC	Buddhism founded by Siddarta Gautama (the Buddha) in India
c. 561 BC	Jehoiachin released from Babylonian prison
c. 551-479 BC	Confucius active in China
c. 538 BC	Return from Exile (decree/edict of Cyrus, King of Persia); Jews return to Palestine; limited self-government as a province of the Persian Empire, but united; religious community directed by the priests; Samaritan factions block the rebuilding of the Temple until c. 522 BC
c. 522 BC	Reign of Darius (Persia) begins; Darius gives permission to rebuild the Temple, and rebuilding begins; completed c. 516 BC
c. 520 BC	Haggai's prophetical career begins; Zechariah's initial prophecy
c. 516 BC	Rebuilding of the Second ("Zerubbabel's") Temple completed, Temple dedicated; First ("Solomon's") Temple had been destroyed 70 years earlier; the Second Temple will be destroyed 70 AD by the Romans; since the Ark of the Covenant was lost when the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, the Holy of Holies is now an empty room inhabited only by the presence of God. Some say the Ark was hidden under the Temple Mount, where it still remains; others say it is in Ethiopia, others that it was submerged in a river somewhere in the Middle East.
c. 508 BC	Book of Haggai written
c. 485-464 BC	Xerxes (in the Deuterocanonical Book of Judith, called King Ahasuerus) king of Persia.
c. 470 BC	Birth of Socrates
c. 460 -400 BC	Book of Malachi (pseudonym) written
c. 455 BC	Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem
c. 438 BC	Parthenon built in Athens; Birth of Plato
c. 420 BC	Ezra (?)
c. 400 BC	Books of Joel and 1 Chronicles written; Torah (Pentateuch) edited in final form
c. 399 BC	Death of Socrates
c. 384 BC	Birth of Aristotle
c. 347 BC	Death of Plato
c. 335 BC	Alexander the Great became king
c. 331 BC	Defeat of Darius III, end of Persian Empire
c. 323 BC	Death of Alexander the Great
c. 322 BC	Death of Aristotle
c. 287-212 BC	Archimedes in Greece
c. 270-260 BC	Translation of Septuagint (Old Testament translated from Hebrew into Greek)
c. 261 BC	Punic Wars begin (Rome)
c. 200-175 BC	Book of Sirach (Deuterocanonical) written
c. 169 BC	Second ("Zerubbabel's") Temple desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes
c. 168-142 BC	Jewish kingdom revived under the Hasmoneans
c. 167-164 BC	Persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes; Book of Daniel written
c. 165 BC	Judas Maccabeus
c. 100 BC	1st Book of Maccabees (Deuterocanonical) written
c. 63 BC	Jerusalem captured by the Romans
c. 44 BC	Julius Caesar assassinated in Rome on March 15
c. 19 BC	Restoration of Second ("Zerubbabel's") Temple begun by Herod the Great; Temple is renovated and enlarged, almost completed ("Herod's" Temple) when it was destroyed by the Romans c. 70 AD. The “46 years” of John 2:20 begin here.
c. 19 BC	Death of Virgil
c 8 BC	Death of Horace
c. 6-4 BC	Birth of Jesus
c. 4 BC	Death of Herod

There was a Temple in Jerusalem for approximately 950 years

Approx. 1,927 years have now elapsed since the destruction of the Second ("Zerubbabal's" or "Herod's") Temple.

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